Rising Above Mediocrity
by Benjamin Geiger

Yeah, I know, I haven’t updated in months. That’s entirely my fault.

Quite a bit has happened since my last post. One important interview, where I came in a “very close second” according to one of the interviewers. (I know the person who got the job, so I can’t be too sore. Sore enough to break my phone, though.) I’ve had a couple of other interviews, too, as far away as St. Petersburg. I used to like St. Pete. This particular interview was held about a block away from where Bonnie works… I couldn’t help but give the Double Deuce as I drove by. Call me bitter, I don’t care.

I’ve also joined Toastmasters. There’s a club in Winter Haven that is open to the public, and I signed up, finally, after months of being a perpetual guest. If anything, it’s forcing me to socialize. It’s not exactly where I’d go to meet people—most people there are grandparents—but it’s practice. I’m planning on posting my speeches here once I give them.

I was first exposed to this poem in school, and I hated it back then. But now, it just says everything that needs to be said.

There’s more! (click here to read)

It’s official: people who binge-drink as teenagers tend to earn higher wages ten years later.

According to research done by Jeffery DeSimone of the University of South Florida along with Pinka Chatterji of the Center for Multicultural Mental Health Research, there is a positive correlation between binge drinking as a teenager and higher earnings as an adult. The Oracle, USF’s daily student newspaper, reports that the study “took other factors into account, such as achievement, prior income and adult drinking, which could possibly explain the correlation”, but doesn’t attempt to show that there is a causative relationship between the two phenomena.

“We just started guessing that this had to do with some socialness of these people,” said DeSimone, in a summary of potential reasons for the correlation. “They’re the ones who are social; they’re the ones going to parties - drinking parties - in 10th grade, so maybe they’re entrepreneurial in the sense that they’re less risk averse.”

As you may have noticed, I’ve made some changes to this site; specifically, I’ve switched to a new theme. This theme is an almost-unmodified K2, with a new header image.

There are quite a few things I have left to fix, but they’ll come in time. For instance, I’m still working on getting the Firefox referral button back in place, along with the recent comments plugin I was using.

If you notice anything weird or broken, or you have a suggestion, feel free to let me know.

I’m thoroughly confused by a series of exchanges Bonnie and I have had since last weekend.

Saturday night, the two of us went to a beach in St. Pete to relax; Bonnie completed a very stressful term in school recently, and I thought it’d help her unwind a bit. As we were lying there on the blanket, the conversation turned to the oeuvre of Don McLean, going something like this (working from memory, so it may be a little off):

Her: Clear night tonight.
Me: Mmmhmm.
Her: ♫ Starry, starry night… ♫
Me: Heh… know the real title of that song?
Her: “Starry, starry night”?
Me: Nope… Vincent.
Her: Well, I knew it was about van Gogh. You know he wrote a song about John Lennon, right?
Me: Which one?
Her: American Pie… “the day the music died” was when Lennon was assassinated.
Me: No, it was when Buddy Holly’s plane crashed, in February of 1959… “♫ but February made me shiver, with every paper I’d deliver… ♫”
[et cetera]

Anyway, a couple days ago, I was bored and decided to check my facts. It turns out that American Pie couldn’t have been about Lennon’s assassination, because it was released in 1971, and Lennon was assassinated in 1980. So, I sent her a brief email pointing this out.

I was expecting mild interest, or at the worst, indifference. Instead, I got a response saying it “makes [her] feel bad” that I brought the subject up, and asking why it was “sooo important”.

The worst part is I really have no idea why she reacted that way.

Over this past weekend, I’ve been introduced to two dining experiences of differing styles.

Friday night, Bonnie took me with her to a friend’s birthday celebration at Dish, a choose-your-own-food grill located in downtown St. Petersburg, FL. Basically, you walk around the perimeter of the “kitchen” and choose the ingredients you want (one sauce and as much meat and veggies as you can fit into a bowl) and take it to the center, where the chefs will sauté it as you watch. It’s all-you-can-eat, so you can make as many trips as you want.

I would recommend it to anyone looking for an unusual buffet restaurant.

The other restaurant I had a chance to try was not nearly as trendy, but certainly just as delicious: Chipotle. I was afraid it would be McTacoBell (Chipotle is owned by McDonald’s) but I was pleasantly surprised.

Take McDonald’s efficiency in ordering and apply it to food that actually tastes like food. That’s Chipotle.

Actually, that’s not quite fair. The ordering process is actually closer to Subway’s, but without the immense number of choices. There are only five meal options: burritos, fajita burritos, “burrito bols”, tacos (hard or soft), or salads. There are four meats: chicken, steak, “carnitas” (pork barbecue), “barbacoa” (beef barbecue), and a vegetarian option. And the food is not expensive; it’s about what you’d pay for an Extra Value Meal at McDs.

I just wish there were a Chipotle nearer to my house (they have restaurants in the Tampa/St. Pete area, and Orlando/Kissimmee, but not really anywhere in between. (Oh, and I wish Bonnie would start pronouncing it properly. It’s chee-POTE-lay, dammit.)

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to head out to Chipotle while I have a chance.

Here’s something that everyone either knows or refuses to accept: The rest of the world does not like the United States anymore. Even most Americans don’t like the US government anymore. It’s fairly clear that the Bush administration has lost the respect of the entire world, and his poll numbers here in the US are a hair’s breadth above where Nixon’s were when he resigned.

There’s more! (click here to read)

Less than two weeks into hurricane season, and Alberto is already on his way through the state.

Don’t worry, we’re fine. Bonnie lost power last night, and even USF Lakeland has been subject to a few power blinks, but there has been no real damage to speak of… no wind-related damage, that is. Bonnie’s NIC got fried in a power surge, but Bright House replaced it.

Just when I thought I had left Magic and AD&D behind… they sneak up on me again.

There’s more! (click here to read)

As some of you may know, I’m a bit of an arcade junkie. Even though I know most of them are rigged, I still play “prize games” (claw games, et cetera). The Regal Cinemas location in the mall near USF has a game, “Lighthouse”, that I’ve been addicted to lately.

Normally I’d give up after a few plays… but this game has extraordinary prizes. After feeding about $15 into the machine, I ended up winning a Cardo Scala 500 Bluetooth headset… in pieces. It was literally broken into two pieces (the speaker had broken from the rest of the headset, and wires were left exposed). It was obvious that it was not a brand new item, as the box was torn and various things taped up.

Of course, I was upset.

I took the broken headset and box to the customer service desk, expecting to get a standard brushoff: “It’s not our game, so it’s not our responsibility.” To my surprise, the manager on duty was not only helpful, but almost apologetic, even though she made it clear that it was Namco’s problem: Regal Cinemas only provides the space; Namco provides, maintains, and stocks the games. While she couldn’t provide me with a replacement herself (only the Namco representative has a key) she made a note for the maintenance guy to retrieve a replacement.

Almost a week later, I got a call from another manager at Regal Cinemas: my headset was waiting for me, and all I had to do was come by. I managed to pick it up five days later.

Now, I’m the owner of a Plantronics Explorer 320 Bluetooth headset, and all it required was some patience.